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>> timeless song. >> timeless song. eurhythmics. >> remind you of your teenage years? how long ago was that for both us? >> 30 years. >> well, teenagers, we remember those busy years. teenagers are busy people between school,ive social lives, sports and sometimes part time jobs, many are just not getting enough sleep. >> a new study shows they can pay a big price for that. abc's senior medical contributor, dr. tim johnson has more. >> reporter: almost 20% of u.s. adolescents have trouble sleeping or are sleep deprived. a study in the canadian medical association journal looked at more than 4,000 adolescents. those who had trouble sleeping had a higher body mass index, larger waist size, higher cholesterol and blood pressure. those who just didn't get enough sleep had higher body mass index and larger waist size. a high sleep disturbance score was associated with higher

consumption of fried food, soft drinks sweets and snacks. the authors conclude poor sleep hygiene amongst adolescents appears to be associated with increased cardiovascular risk and they say improving sleep hygiene early in life may be important for the prevention of cardiovascular disease later in life. for cardiovascular disease later in life. i'm dr. timothy johnson. >> wow. >> how do you feel about our job right now? >> great. >> scary. >> i feel great about it. >> every story we do about sleep deprivation freaks me out. >> i can survive on five hours a night. teens need nine hours. ironically the school day, done a lot of research, a teen's normal biorhythms are late at night and into the early hours of the morning. so the teens should actually be watching our show, but they want to sleep in which goes against the natural school day. >> who gets nine hours in this

world? i don't think any body gets nine hours. >> if you do we are jealous. please. >> we are jealous. the debut of our new series this week "extreme eats." yes, doing a couple of things we love to do most. eating pickles. i learned how to make a perfect pickle. >> a great tease on many levels, paula. >> yeah, i am going to eat one too. >> announcer: abc's "world news now" will continue after this from our abc stations.

♪ pickles pickles i like pickles ♪ >> i've got that on my itune. >> i never heard that song before. good pick, guys. well, who doesn't like a pickle? let's just be honest here. the crispy, tasty treat as paula found out can be made out of just about anything.

>> we are talking about pickles. i wanted to bring one in for you, i know how much you like to put your mouth around a pickle. we think you're going to love extreme eats, basic foods taken to a whole other level. hey, insomniacs, paula here with the pickle guy. this is al. >> how are you doing? >> al will show how to make pickles. is there anything we can't pickle? >> you can pickle anything. i will show you how. >> can you pickle me? >> i have a barrel big enough for you. >> he may pickle you. we'll go next door. >> we have about 30, 40 different items. the only difference is the amount of time they're aged for. the pickle recipe the same since 1910 when the immigrants came to the country they brought their family recipe over here. the same recipe. it ha not been changed. customers come in. oh, this guy wants pickles. he wants the ones with the warts, so we give him the ones with the warts. it's kind of cool. >> people actually request pickles with warts?

>> some people want one with bumps, large ones, small ones. people want to make sure they're nice and straight. >> what type of gal am i? >> you said you like the clean ones. i'm leaning toward the hot ones. you look a little on the hot side. >> i like things a little hot. >> i can tell. >> if you can take a pickle. bend it end to end without it snapping, without it snapping, it's not a good pickle. you want it to snap. >> i don't want you to waste that, so i'm going to try it. >> hear the crunch? >> uh-huh. that was good. >> okay, al. i'm ready to make pickles. show me how this is done. >> this is a good thing. what we have here, a barrel of water. >> just water. >> what we'll add, salt. pour the salt in. >> i found a new calling in life. >> now the type of cucumbers we buy are skacalled kirby cucumbe

and the reason we use them, very little seeds and a lot of meat. we will take the cucumbers. got it. >> yeah, pour them all in. are we going to put all of these in there? >> all of these go into the one barrel. ♪ now we put one scoop of garlic. >> okay. >> and now we get to the spices. >> how much? >> one whole scoop of spices. coriander seed, bay leaf, dried pepper corn. mustard seeds. juniper berries. >> sprinkle it all in. >> throw it right in. >> this smells amazing. >> beautiful, right? >> beautiful. >> the brine we made, salt water. take that and pour it in there. >> just pour it in. >> oh, splash. ooh, that is salty. >> pour it in. casualty. >> see how they're floating? >> yep.

they're floating. it floats. >> and now you have just made a barrel of pickles. >> you don't have to mix it up at all? >> no. just leave it like that. take the inner. place that in there. keeps the cucumbers submerged underneath the brine. put the cover on. just look that. put that in the refrigerator, and tomorrow it will be ready for sale. >> i am no longer in a pickle. showed me. >> you looked right at home, paula with all the pickles. >> you know me. i love a good pickle. splashed all over me, juice. >> got some in your eye. awful. >> and they're low calorie, only 7 calories. [ laughter ] the pickle guys, by the way, they ship nationally. >> i was wondering how they -- oh. >> and i didn't know that. like the crunchier the less they have been soaking in that. >> very cool. tomorrow the series continue i'll have a look at meat balls.

meatballs. had a complete set. 3q

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♪ cross my heart and i hope to die ♪ ♪ that i only stay with you one more night ♪ ♪ and i know i have said it a million times ♪ ♪ but i only stay with you one more night ♪ try to tell you no ♪ welcome back, everybody. a northern michigan high school student, the victim of a cruel joke, had the last laugh over the weekend. this one is our "favorite story of the day." >> you are about to see why. whitney was tricked into thinking she had been nominated for home coming queen, but rather than hang her head, whitney set app example on how to put bullies in their place. abc's linsey davis has the story.

>> reporter: for whitney krupp this moment was bigger than homecoming it was about overcoming. the 16-year-old says she almost didn't join the homecoming court friday night at her high school in northern michigan. >> you want it up? >> reporter: when cropp heard over the loud speaker she had been nominated, she was thrilled. even posting on facebook "in the home coming court. a little nervous, but this is going to be fun." then cropp learned it was all a cruel joke that the so-called popular kids at ogemaw heights high school thought it would be funny to choose her. cropp said she was beyond humiliated telling a local station in saginaw, the subsequent bullying intensified. >> i had actually thought about suicide. >> but when people found out about it, they rallied around her. local business owners encouraged her to embrace the title providing a dress, hair styling, makeup, shoes, dinner for the big night. there are now more than 120,000 likes on a support whitney face book page.

in an interview airing tuesday on "katie," cropp and her mother say they hope the story inspires students to stick up for one another. >> normally, to me, i go with my heart and my gut. do this and show them what you are worth. >> there may be kids out there who have liked at her, seen her story, said i can do that too. >> reporter: as for friday night, cropp walked out on to the field with more than 1,000 cheering supporters including some from the opposing team. >> i have no word for this right now. >> reporter: though cropp wasn't crowned homecoming queen she turned what was a prank into a moment to shine. lindsay davis, abc news, new york. >> that upsets you that kids can be so cruel. we've seen that so many times, but how cool that she rose above all that stuff. awesome. >> r

this morning on "world news now" -- it's down to the wire in denver. preparing for their first debate. >> president obama and mitt romney are off the campaign trail today as they get ready to face off tomorrow night. it's tuesday, october 2nd. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." good tuesday morning, everyone. i'm paula faris. good to see you back. >> good to be back. >> uh-huh. >> you had fun in baltimore. back together. you had a good time in baltimorbaltimor baltimore. i had a good time in new orleans. and now we're back at the desk. >> i was feeling it yesterday. you are feeling it today. >> running on fumes. that is for sure. i like the glasses -- something different. >> took him about 20 minutes. and then he was like something is different. >> i'm tired. >> glasses. my eyes are -- just --

significantly regressing. >> it happens in your 60s. good morning, everybody, i'm rob nelson. in a moment we'll have a look at how each candidate will try to score points at the big debate tomorrow night. also this half hour, an amtrak train with 169 passengers collides with a big rig and then derails and passengers and eyewitnesses are describing the chaos that followed. and then a peanut butter recall spreads, even more so. more than a hundred items, some that might be in your home right now are being linked to a salmonella outbreak. >> products that use the peanut butter. bigger than you think. stay tuned for that. and later in the half hour, are scientologists bending the rules for tom cruise? the insider who says cruise is getting special treatment when it comes to seeing suri. that's coming up in "the skinny." the drama continues for tom. but first, five weeks until the election and one day before the crucial presidential debate. >> both candidates are working

on their last-minute preparations for their first face-off tomorrow night. abc's karen travers is joining us this morning with a preview of the debate. good morning, karen. >> good morning, rob. good morning, paula. it's been very quiet on the campaign trail as president obama and mitt romney hunkers down and prepares for wednesday's debate. a new abc news/"washington post" poll shows a very tight race. so both campaigns see tomorrow night as a big opportunity. this presidential campaign has been going on for nearly two years and finally it's debate season for the nominees. the time when americans seem to really start paying attention. president obama's rehearsing with senator john kerry and mitt romney is squaring off against senator rob portman. both candidates have challenges and checklists. president obama's working on shorter answers, trying to avoid sounding like the professor he was before the white house. democrats say he needs to look strong and forceful and not appear irritated or impatient. >> they're trying to get him into the mode of being able to answer questions, short,

concisely, and to the point, and so it's much more like his mannerisms and his style and the way he comes across as opposed to information in this. >> reporter: and mitt romney? he has to seem relatable, especially after his 47% comment. how can he do that? show compassion? show he's competent and connect with the voters? >> on those three cs that's where he really has got to do well. >> reporter: romney arrived in colorado to continue his debate prep but took a brief break to rally supporters. >> what an honor. what a welcome. what a colorado welcome. thank you so much. >> the prls president also took a break with a visit to the nevada campaign office. >> hi, this is barack obama. how are you? [ laughter ] >> a new abc news, "washington post" poll found that 56% expect the president to win the debates. lowered expectations could be good for romney. if he turns in a strong debate performance, his campaign can boast of a big win and leave denver with some momentum. rob and paula, back to you.

>> all right. thanks, karen. >> 90 minutes, and just to give you a little bit of background on this particular debate, it's the first one. it will be moderated by jim lehrer, host of pbs's "newshour." they'll have 15 minutes. ask a question, two minutes to respond. jake tapper pointed out on "world news." the president a little loquacious. one of his responses to jake was five minutes. got to cut that down a little bit. >> the media, we are guilty of this. we cover the horse race. we cover -- the one-liners or awkward moments. >> zingers. >> people watch -- i hope millions tune in to watch, they pay attention to the substance, how the two men differ in policies as opposed to who looked nervous, who had a little bit of sweat, who gave the quirky one-liner. >> check on the watch. >> yeah, hopefully people focus on the stuff that matters. we'll see. we'll see. in pennsylvania big day today, there will be a vote on the voter i.d. law. it could still be appeared to

the state supreme court here. we have seen that play out in different states around the country. virginia, ohio. so as just a few weeks out starting to see some of the judges take action one way or the other. how it is going to turn out. pennsylvania pay attention to that today. >> early voting begins in ohio today as well. >> indeed. getting closer and closer. tomorrow night's live debate coverage starts at 9:00 eastern here on abc news. later this half hour, a cool story here, how candidate s learn from past debate mistakes in order to win. investigators will be on the scene of an amtrak train derailment in california's central valley today. that's where the train's locomotive and two passenger cars came off the rails yesterday after colliding with a big rig truck. now officials want to know how fast the train and truck were traveling at the time of that collision. at least 20 people were injured. >> it started fishtailing and then ground to a real fast halt. people were screaming. >> i've seen a lady over there with a broken arm. there is about, a 3-month, 4-month-old baby, covered in whatever was in the back of the diesel truck. >> and they don't have seat

belts in the amtrak trains either. after the amtrak derailment, a second accident took place nearby. that one involved a freight train and a tractor-trailer. police said the truck driver suffered major injuries. american airlines is back under the microscope this morning with federal investigators looking into why passengers' seats came loose . a third incident was just reported by the "new york post." all the plains were posted. both planes were boeing 757s. the faa says they recently had maintenance work with the seats taken out and then reinstalled. american in bankruptcy is locked in a dispute with its pilots and mechanics. honda is recalling one of the best-selling cars because of a fair hazard. 600,000 accords sold in the u.s. and canada may have defective power steering hoses. fluid could leak and then cause fires. the recall for accords with v-6 engines 2003 to '07 model years. repairs will be made free of charge. but dalers may not have all the parts needed until next year. savvy car thieves are no

longer relying on breaking windows or jimmying locks. they've gone high tech. they have found a way to gain access to a car by cracking the code to the security system. surveillance camera in chicago captures this thief in action. he simply walks by the car, unlocks it wirelessly allowing him to rummage for valuables. >> we believe that this code-grabbing technology was utilized. we're looking into it and investigating it. kind of an elusive crime to report. for us to even take note of in the first place. >> older cars are especially vulnerable to this crime. the new ones are equipped with technology that constantly changes the key code, making signals that are harder to copy. wireless signal experts think that they have cracked those security codes, so they're able to send the same unlock signal that an owner's key transmitter uses. frightening. >> some detectives think there

could be an app out there that these thieves are using to unlock the car. scary. also a good and downside to technology. this could be another case. a first. at first people just thought, "oh, must not have locked the car. must have left it open." then when they saw more and more cases crop up. they said, "wait a minute. something is going on here." be careful. >> yeah. that's got to be disconcerting. you get in your car, no visible signs. >> no smashed window. >> get in my car, an old stroller, maybe a couple bags, old clothes. take the french fries that have been in between the seats for the last three months. >> you know you still eat those. >> every now and then my son does. whatever. just eat it. >> here's your tuesday forecast, everybody. we have severe storms with gusty winds and hail from cincinnati to pittsburgh. lexington. showers with peeks of sunshine from new york to d.c. thunderstorms in the carolinas, georgia, and florida. and more record heat in the southwest. 102 in phoenix. 94 in sacramento. mostly 80s in the rockies. upper 60s and 70s from midwest into the east coast.

and on monday night football, it was the bears visiting the cowboys. dallas qb tony romo only failed to complete seven passes, unfortunately though, five of his completions were made by chicago defenders. >> bad, mm-hmm. >> yeah. we call those interception. there were a-plenty. >> two returned for touchdowns. the bears' offense, not bad. jay cutler connected on 11 of 12 -- some are calling this the best game he had in a really long time. 11 of 12. second half passes including two touchdowns. the bears win. and a stroll in dallas, 34-18. the bears, the bears are 3-1. who would have thought the bears would be 3-1. packers 2-2, division rivalry right there. the saints are one of two 0-4 teams this year. >> it's painful. i was in the city to watch the game. could have won. looked better. an ugly game. >> missed a field goal. >> i know. i know. i was there. watching it it was painful.

some of the viewers wrote on facebook, they see your chicago jersey, but you're a native of michigan. where is your love for the tigers? >> you mean the lions? >> the lions. i mean -- i am fresh back. >> here's the quick -- the quick story on that. >> quick, yeah. >> i was a lions' fan, and then wayne fonts, one of the head coaches for the lions when he ran barry sanders into the ground, barry sanders was like no more of this. i was like -- no more. >> there is a history there. i didn't know myself. i was curious. >> i lived, worked in ohio for 12 years. lived and worked in chicago for six years. covered the bears and bengals. >> there we go. i was just curious. you fully answered. >> curious? >> curious. >> coming up -- what steven colbert revealed about himself to oprah winfrey. >> the widespread peanut butter recall, what you need to know about it before you harm yourself or your family. you are watching "world news now." >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by united health care. but it doesn't cover everything.

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well, more than a hundred brands of peanut butter and other nut products are being recalled this morning in a salmonella scare. >> at least 30 people, many of them kids, have gotten sick. abc's steve osunsami has more. >> reporter: what is especially frightening is that most of the people who have gotten sick from the so-called recalled peanut butter are children under the age of 10. >> i am concerned. i love peanut butter. >> you don't know what you are getting. it is very scary. >> reporter: this began with one brand of sea salt peanut butter

at trader joe's, but the recall has cleared peanut butter aisles at kroger, whole foods, and target. investigators have traced the trouble to sunland incorporated, a peanut butter manufacturer in new mexico that sells products in grocery stores across the country. the list of recalled pea nut butter products is 101 items long and includes nut butters made with almonds, cashews, and sesame seeds. and it gets worse. companies like oregon ice cream, and fairy tale brownies which used the recalled nut butter to make cookies and baked goods they're now recalling their products too. >> people have been getting sick over the last month. and because there's often a two-week delay or so in the reporting time, we expect to hear about case for the next week or two. >> reporter: we should make clear none of this affects moms who choose jiff, skippy, or other main brands. we talked with the managers at the peanut butter company in new mexico. they told us they test their

product every half hour, their peanut butter is safe and that the illnesses are a mystery. steve osunsami, abc news. >> affects so many people. we have -- a closet full of peanut butter. >> all right, scary. >> have to get rid of. >> and wondering -- diarrhea, fever, cramping, some of the signs out there. definitely go to our website. check out abcnews.com. tll you can find a full list of all the items being recalled. it affects more than just traditional peanut butter. >> it might not affect you until two weeks from now. as well, those side effects manifest themselves slowly. >> slowly. all right. coming up next, let's lighten the mood a little bit. we do have some serious news, stephen colbert in "the skinny," talks about his personal life, details folks may not know about opened up to oprah a little bit. not all laughing matters, to say the least. and tom cruise, parenting issues and what scientologists are doing about it. it's all next in "the skinny". >> announcer: abc's "world news now" w

♪ skinn ♪ skinny ♪ so skinny >> welcome back, everybody. well, the church of scientology, scientologists are a little upset with tom cruise saying he's getting preferential treatment within the church. according to the church once a family member or spouse has left the church of scientology, katie holmes and her daughter have returned to the catholic church, they're supposed to shun them instantly.

>> ew. >> yes, which i find a little bizarre. he said he wouldn't be allowed to see or maintain communication with katie or suri because they're no longer in the church of scientology. a former scientologist and ex-president of the celebrity center says that they've already bent the rules for tom. he hasn't actually been seen in public with his daughter in over seven weeks, and so some people are starting to speculate is he adhering to the new rules or not? but people in his camp are saying he is off shooting movies. something that was normal for him to do. before the split even happened. >> i would hate to think he would pick the religion over his daughter. that would seem kind of crazy. also stephen colbert sat down with oprah winfrey, "oprah's next chapter." kind of gave a somber interview. i love his show. i didn't know the personal details of his upbringing. he at the age of 10 years old lost his father and two older brothers when they all died in a plane crash in north carolina in 1974. he goes on to tell oprah he didn't grieve until he got to

college. as a college frshman, he lost 50 pounds that year. just couldn't deal with it at the time. just 10 years old. when this happened. didn't deal with it until years later. and went through, i didn't know how to grieve. finally, it did hit him. he was able to deal with it. he has a book coming out the reason he gave the interview. very different side of colbert than the guy right there that we are used to seeing. every night. a very fascinating interview with him, so check that out, and the book. >> serious side to him. i am a big fan of him. even though he made fun of me several times. >> oh. >> yeah which stories i did. yeah. >> really? >> anyway, "dancing with the st st stars," a little recap, if you didn't get a chance to watch it last night. here is basically what happened. right there, earning some of the higher scores of the evening. as well as sabrina. and kirstie alley and max not so good. and bristol palin danced to "red neck woman" along with mark

ballball las. the dancers with the lowest scores, and judge's scores combined, they will be voted off tonight. shawn johnson and derek hough doing well. >> are you following the season? >> no, not really. i watched a little bit of that before we watched "dexter." >> "dexter"'s great. paris jackson, michael jackson's beautiful daughter. tweeted an interesting picture. try to figure what it means. apparently got a very drastic haircut. >> is that her? >> that its her with very heavy eye makeup and shorter hair. based upon tweets, people are debating whether she donated her hair to cancer charity or something like that or whether it was a wig and kind of, just her way of trying to make headlines. of course, it looks a lot like miley cyrus who chopped off a lot of her hair you, see there. people trying to figure out what is going on with paris these days? was it publicity thing? donate it? what is going on? but, a little hard to tell. i don't get that one. >> think i should do that? >> no. no.

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you're watching "world news now." >> sleep is overrated. ♪ you're watching "world news now." >> sleep is overrated. ♪ ♪ welcome back, everybody. with the first presidential debate tomorrow night in denver, it's a good time to look back at previous debates and how past candidates performed. >> indeed. and what we find is the art of debate often comes down to more than just getting the facts right. abc's john donovvan breaks down the ways to win. >> reporter: 28 times since 1960, plus vice presidentials and primaries without a single moment of rhetorical greatness but plenty of lessons on how to survive one of these things. lesson one, prescript your

zingers carefully. you think this was spontaneous? reagan to carter. >> there you go again. >> reporter: scripted. so was this. benson to dan quayle. >> i served with jack kennedy. i knew jack kennedy. kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you are no jack kennedy. >> reporter: lesson two, think spelling bee. memorize every possible answer. mistakes will define you forever. don't get the obvious stuff wrong. >> there is no soviet domination of eastern europe. >> reporter: have a plan to handle bizarro curveball questions. >> if kitty dukakis were raped and murdered -- >> reporter: mr. dukakis, governor, answered the death penalty question with policy talk. >> i think there are better and more effective ways to deal with crime. >> reporter: which did not go well for him. which lead to lesson three. appearances count above all. jfk, tan.

nixon, just out of the hospital, pale, refusing professional makeup. reagan's people fussed more over his than mondale's did over his. reagan always had a glass of wine just before going on to get those rosy cheeks. lesson four, real debating? so far, after 52 years, not actually required here. so relax. learn your lines. don't sneak in a look at your wristwatch. because that will definitely hurt you. beside, 90 minutes and you are done. possibly for good. john donvan, abc news, washington. >> possibly for good. nice line there. >> that's how rob gets his cheeks nice and takes it from the old gipper. it works. i think there's so much choreography that goes behind the debates. iasciwhat made-for-tv evehey first started with nixon and kennedy.

this morning on "world news now" -- getting ready for the duel in denver. >> we'll see how both candidates are preparing for the first presidential debate coming up tomorrow night. it is tuesday, october 2nd. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." good morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. >> good to have you back from new orleans. >> good to be back. >> you can tell me stories during commercial break. >> oh, yeah. i have some good ones. >> they always are. and i am paula faris on this tuesday. we'll get the latest from denver with debate practice in a moment. and then caught on tape, a police lieutenant punching a woman in the head. now, the veteran of a big city force is facing brutality charges. >> that's hard to watch. >> yes.

>> there is a reason the cops were agitated because they were getting sprayed with something. but -- >> and her -- yeah. >> it's hard to watch. we'll get into that in a second. also this half hour, another claim of assault, this one involving a 220-pound teacher, and a 6-year-old boy. and get this -- it's the teacher saying the kid hurt him. >> wait, wait, the 220-pound teacher got hurt by the first grader? >> i guess, you know, he socked him in the ankle or whatever. >> and he's a former football player? >> yeah. crazy story there. weird news -- weird news today. later, moment of impact. you are going to see the extraordinary test crash of the 727 jetliner with survival lessons for anyone who flies. this is a fascinating story. >> what? what you should do and where in the plane you should sit to increase your odds of surviving, god forbid something like that. >> just fascinating to see what exactly happens on board a plane

during a crash. >> there was "lost" the tv show and the real deal. that's the real thing. but first matt -- mitt. just back from vacation. can you tell? mitt romney says tomorrow night's debate is not about winning or losing, but about something "bigger." >> it's okay, ron. first, the stakes are awfully high for the first time they face off between the two candidates. abc's david muir is in denver, one day until the debates. >> reporter: the debate stage coming together here at university of denver where governor romney will stand on the same stage with the president for the first time. in early september he spent days at the secluded retreat in vermont then more practice in los angeles then just this weekend in boston. and playing the role of the president in those mock debates, senator rob portman of ohio. portman taking pointed shots at romney and his answers, as top romney advisers looked on, studying not only romney's answers but his body language. romney joking, portman playing the president so well.

>> he is playing barack obama in the mock debates we have, i don't like him very much anymore. all right. >> reporter: governor romney studying president obama's past debates, which offers romney an opportunity to exceed expectations. republican chris christie predicting just that. >> shaking your head saying it is a brand new race. >> reporter: and running mate paul ryan hanging success on the debates. >> the debate phase in this campaign. we will make this case in our debates. >> reporter: that debate will be held here in denver. in the meantime, mitt romney held a rally here behind me. most of his t-unken. preparing for the most important night of his polil cpdaac ner. and president obama is spending his last full day of debate prep at a resort outside st to deliver pza at abc political analyst matt dowd

says mr. obama's advisers are focused on helping the president trim his often lengthy answers. to o bes often lengthy answers. answer questions, short, concisely, and to the point, and so it's much more like his mannerisms and his style and the way he comes across as 'posed to information in this. >> so style, not substance, i guess? i don't know. >> sounds like it. >> both parties say the first debate traditionally helps the challenger just by appearing on stage as an alternative. abc news live coverage of the first presidential debate, begins tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. eastern, diane sawyer, george stephanopoulos will anchor our coverage and analysis in the nifty, renovated studios at abc news. this is going to be interesting& e be >> and there's not a lot of love lost between the two. that's the thing. >> oh, no -- >> not just from the rigors of the campaign. in general thee n

in e, t get a little testy, and they'll both kind of want to come out there and go for the jugular a little bit. -e'll see how it wio cf >> this will all be about domestic policy. expect to hear a lot about jobs, health care. >> the issues americans care most about. stay tuned and, of course, keep it here on abc for everything post-debate coverage-wise. a new report puts a price tag on what americans face if by an average of $3,500 with increases totally more than half a trillion dollars, automatic tax increases and deep spending cuts would kick in if the country goes over that fiscal cliff. >> that's significant. you look at some of these numbers. just you throw out numbers like test you throw out numbers like you can't put your mind around it.

a married couple with two kids inc00 more, $6,000 more almost. and then if some of the child deductions, obama's payroll tax cut isn't renewed, you won't get tax breaks for each child as well. >> one of the steepest increases in history of the country. a big deal. remember, we got to this point because the super committee, bipartisan committee did not get the job done, they did not come up with a deal. this is what will trigger the fiscal cliff by the end of this year. so, no mattewhat they got to get thie be cf1p201. moving on this morning, another major credit card company is going to pay up to company is goingresnd $ up to million to 250,000 customers out there. and amex accused of violating federal laws in marketing and billing. the company will also pay $27.5 million, similar claims were settled with capital one and discover. well, a decorated philadelphia police officer is facing brutality charges after punching a woman attending a parade.

the confrontation was captured on video sunday. it is going to happen on the left side of the screen. after the puerto rican day parade. the lieutenant seen on video hitting the mother of three so hard in the face that it knocked her to the ground and left her bleeding. >> and this officer -- bam -- and somebody hit me. and that's it. >> i'm not so sure the level of force that he used was appropriate for the situation, but, again, that is yet to be determined, and they'll do a full investigation. >> well, anna guzman was cited for disorderly conduct for throwing beer, but the video apparently shows it was thrown by the man behind her. lieutenant josie has been with the force for nearly 20 years. he's now on administrative duty. still, even if she had, there is really no excuse for, for, for that sort of retaliation. >> hard to watch. hopefully somebody will get to the bottom of what happened there. man! some stories you just can't make up. here's one of them. a teacher here in new york is basically bringing assault accusations against a 6-year-old

child. 27-year-old john webster is a 220-pound former college football player. and he says he could not control the 50-pound child during an incident this past school year. >> he spun around, belted me right directly in my right knee. i was trying to move back away, but i was by the stairs. so i heard a big pop to my knee at that point. >> webster also says the child fractured his ankle and that the incident forced him to see a psychiatrist. on top of that, he says his doctor told him not to work for several months, but a new york city department of education doctor says he should be back in school now. and in philadelphia, a 10-year-old is under arrest accused of stealing a van, and then taking it for a joy ride. the boy didn't get very far though, before the van slammed into a line of parked cars, crunching them together. he tried to make a run for it, but was stopped by a passer-by.

police say the boy grabbed the keys from the rear door and sped off while the crew was unloading furniture. >> i think he should be grounded maybe. >> i think a little more than that. all right. now to a medical headline that really hits home, especially at this hour when so many insomniacs are watching. researchers say sleep deprivation impacts 10% of americans on a chronic basis. insomniacs admit sleep problems lead to mistakes that can cost their employers money. researchers estimate errors and accidents linked to insomnia cost $32,000 per incident. that's why you and i have cost abc billions of dollars in just our first ten months of working together. >> yeah. more than 7% of workplace errors can be blamed on insomnia. in my case, maybe like 75%. >> i feel your pain today. you were in baltimore. i was in new orleans. both kind of coming off a mini vacation. it's tough. a, man. >> just not as young as we used to be. >> can't do it. can't do it anymore. here's your tuesday

forecast, everybody. on-and-off showers. thunderstorms from the carolinas to miami. around cleveland, pittsburgh, lexington. indian summer, northern plains, to the great lakes. record heat in the southwest. >> a triple-digit day in phoenix. meanwhile, 90s from l.a. to sacramento. 80s in the rockies, across the south. 70s from kansas city to minneapolis. well, a rather unique birthday celebration in south florida last weekend. we wish a happy belated 100th birthday to joseph katz, has the crown on and long-time friend, al spiegel. >> when we say long time, we mean a really long time. joe and al grew up together here in new york before ending up living close to each other in the sunshine state. they have been friends for 91 years. >> i love this. >> i love this story. >> and some conventional wisdom from katz, quote, when the good lord gives you a body, use it, don't abuse it, and you'll live to 100. he obviously didn't go to new orleans or baltimore over the

weekend. [ laughter ] >> great. i love the friendship. >> awesome. the older you get the more you value friends who have known you way back in the day, growing up, that sort of thing. i think that's really cool. so keep on ticking, fellows. >> i was with my college girlfriends. we have known each other for 20 years. >> history is important. coming up next -- money, fame, and glamour, a look inside taylor swift's sweet musical success. >> and crashing a plane on purpose with no passengers on board. what this test can teach us all the next time we fly. we'll tell you all about it on "world news now." ♪ crash into me ♪ crash into me >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by consumer cellular. ♪

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welcome back, everybody. welcome back, everybody. we have seen the car tests, with crash test dummies, designed to give us an idea of how safe certain cars are. >> now a groundbreaking crash test that promises to teach us more about the safety of airplanes. as neal karlinsky reports it also could teach us how to survive. >> reporter: a boeing 727 over the mexican desert speeding towards the ground at 2,000 feet per minute, and the flight crew just bailed out a hatch in the back with parachutes. left behind onboard, the passengers, more than $500,000 worth of crash test dummies, along with 38 specialized high-speed cameras and sensors embedded in the frame, all hurtling toward every flyer's

ultimate terror, a sudden, horrifying crash. this stunning made-to-order catastrophe was done for the discovery channel show "curiosity plane crash." all to better understand what really happens to people on board. >> we'll see maybe a broken ankle. >> reporter: injury biomechanics expert dr. cindy burr says the crash dummies tell the story. bracing for impact can save your life. what should you do? put your head -- >> put your head down. hands over. >> reporter: hands over your head? >> just pull it. >> reporter: that works? >> well, yeah, it does. >> reporter: the results show that passengers near the front took the brunt of it. rows 7 and forward were considered fatal. the forces were substantially less in the middle. and much less in the rear of the plane, though to dr. bur's surprise, many of the seat belted passengers who didn't bend over to brace had spinal injuries from jerking forward in their lap belts. >> a pretty severe impact. >> reporter: she showed us something else in her lab, a simulated mother holding an infant on her lap, a familiar

money-saver for parents everywhere. after a relatively minor impact, the mother can't hold on. another critical tip, generally sitting within five rows of an exit gives a passenger the best odds because getting out fast is key. lessons from an aviation disaster that may actually save lives. neal karlinsky, abc news, detroit. back of the plane, safest place to be. people complain, "i don't want to be near the bathroom." i would rather be alive end of the day if something goes wrong. >> your chances according to worldwide data dying in a plane crash in a fully developed country, one in 14 million. >> i'll take those odds. i'll take those odds. amazing video. something to think about next time in the airport. look at that. >> taylor swift. right? >> coming up next after the break. stay with us everybody. >> announcer: abc's

taylor swift is one of the hottest young stars on the planet. >> the 22-year-old singer holds the record for the most top ten debuts in history of billboard. swift sat down with abc's cynthia mcfadden to talk money, fame, love, and of course, her new album. ♪ you belong with me ♪ you belong with me >> reporter: she sings of young love and loss. ♪ i'm wondering why we bother with love if it never lasts ♪ >> reporter: she sold more than 22 million albums. won six grammys. >> thank you, thank you, thank you! >> reporter: all at the ripe old age of 22. >> welcome to nashville. >> reporter: thank you. it's a little steamy. >> reporter: when i caught up with taylor swift, she was in the middle of shooting her third cover for "glamour" magazine.

>> i would wear anything they asked me too, really. >> reporter: you are very compliant for a person -- you are also very organized. >> you pick your battles. >> reporter: is that what it is? >> fighting a neon top, that's not a hill i want to die on. >> reporter: in person, she is indeed a charming mixture of accomplished professional and somewhat giddy kid. >> and this is my favorite thing as well as this. >> reporter: i love that. those are the two things. the real taylor swift would use these. >> i am for real going to steal them for sure. >> reporter: you are? she also may be the most successful singer/song writer of her generation. you're the number one earning star, 30 years old or younger, beating justin bieber. >> oh, yeah. someone told me that. >> reporter: rihanna. reportedly $56 million last year. >> that's a lot. >> reporter: does it feel a little intimidating some times or not? >> what part of it? >> reporter: it's big. >> it just doesn't feel that, it doesn't feel like a weight. >> reporter: in fact, she's

very much in charge when it comes to her career. she has a new album coming out later this month. the first track has already set records. and gone to number one. ♪ we are never, ever, ever getting back together ♪ ♪ we >> reporter: "rolling stone" said "she's one of the few genuine rock stars we have got these days with a flawless ear for what makes a song click." >> when did they say that? >> reporter: june. >> they said that? >> reporter: they did. >> recently too. wow. >> reporter: so you are not blase. >> i try to be sometimes, but it's just hard when you get excited about stuff. >> reporter: there's a lot to be excited about these days. >> i love that she actually gets excited about it doesn't take it for granted like a lot of the pop stars. >> amen to that. in case you're wondering about her love life too, she is dating the son of robert f. kennedy jr. what is going on in the romantic department. 22, gazillionaire, dating a kennedy, tough life, taylor. >> yes, it is. department.

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welcome back, everybody, to "the mix" here. we've seen all these stories the last couple of months about the bears who are kind of wandering into people's homes, yards, up in trees searching for food. getting toward that time of the year. one woman, the story, decided when the bear came to her porch, there was bird feed out there, she wanted to tackle the creature head on and scare smoky bear. take a listen to the video. this is the bear making its way. you can imagine -- >> -- the bear is here. >> the size of that thing. making his way to the porch. the woman, you hear in a second. is going to come out and start screaming her lungs out at the bear. you will be surprised at the reaction. >> get down! right now! go! no! no! get down! [ laughter ]

>> see! >> see, there's bears and there was mama grizzly. she was not playing. she talked the bear down off the porch. love it. >> that's the new black bear repellent. mama bear. >> talk the bear out of it. i like it. >> from bears to bras. bras can be a bit of a bear. bras, women. how about that? >> ding. >> i'm on my game. still don't have a bra that fits. this is something that plagues every woman. they're saying vanity sizing is still going on. basically, they tell you what size you want, like i want to thing i'm a d but i know i'm like a negative a after having two kids. it's still happening. they say to truly measure your size, measure your ribcage and then add 3 inches. then measure the fullest part of your breast. kind of hard to find. >> the fullest part of your breast? >> the fullest part of your breast, right here, mine news

your -- minus your ribcage. this is a 1. you are an a cup. that would be me. yeah. so a couple tips too. lengthen the life of your bra -- start wearing your bra on the loosest hook and tighten it as you wear it more. if you need to tighten it, it's time for a new bra. >> so is the gist that women tend to buy ill-fitting bras because the whole labeling system is messed up? >> yeah. and vanity sizing is still going on. people are leading us astray. that's how to appropriate ly measure yourself. and from bras to squatting. >> no. >> gone are the days when you can take a magazine in and read for 30 minutes. it's bad for you. you can get hemorrhoids. >> from actually sitting on the bowl? >> the guy is coming up with the new device, squatty potty, fits the base of the toilet makes it easier to squat instead of sit on the john. that's how they do it in uncivilized countries. >> yeah. >> like this, right. >> pop the s

this morning on "world news now" - this morning on "world news now" -- flight fright. the feds investigate another case of defective airline passenger seats. >> the passengers' fears as their seats became detached, forcing the crew to take drastic action. it is tuesday, october 2nd. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." what was that again? >> back in the saddle. good morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. >> and i'm paula faris. we're going to get to that federal investigation into american airlines in just a moment. then the first presidential debate of this campaign is tomorrow in denver. how mitt romney and president barack obama are preparing as they count down the hours to tomorrow night. 90 minutes of drama should we say? >> can you imagine being a fly on the wall, listening to the prep and what they're going

through, he says this, you say this, stand like that, talk like this. the prep must be fascinating behind the scenes. >> i would love to hear the commentary as they're looking at their opponents in previous debates, just the things they would say about them. >> political theater in full effect tomorrow night. also, folks, a health concern near and dear to our insomniac viewers, this is for sure, we'll bring you new and pretty eye-opening research into teens who are sleep deprived. something we can relate to, especially coming off a little mini weekend vacation. >> basically anything positive out of sleep deprivation. >> the news is never good for our life expectancy on the shift. this is actually kind of good, though. "extreme eats," ordinary foods with an extreme edge. i will introduce you to guys making pickles like nobody else's business. hey, insomniacs, paula here with al. he's the pickle pro. we are making pickles because there is nothing you can't pickle. it's all coming up. >> really.

>> there's nothing you can't pickle. we can picking everything. >> we can pickle you. >> i feel pickled. you had a good time on the pickle shoot? >> i did. >> some changes to the set. diane sawyer, changed the set around, in case you notice something different this morning. so we're back in the saddle. >> it dpeesd good to be here. but first, federal investigators are taking a close look at american air looks. >> they're locked in a bitter dispute to take planes out of service until they can be checked. abc's jim avila has more. >> 685, what can i do for you? >> got an unusual one for you. >> reporter: no one can remember this happening before, not passengers, so rattled they didn't want to be identified. >> the seats flipped backward, and so people were essentially

on the laps of the passengers behind them with their legs up in the air. >> reporter: not aviation experts. >> i've never seen anything like that in all my years, 30 years of covering the airline industry. >> reporter: no one can remember airline seats disconnecting from the cabin floor. and now it's happened twice in three days aboard two american airlines 757s. >> during climb-out, rows -- passenger seats, row 12-d, e, f came loose out of the floor. >> reporter: flight 685, boston to miami, diverted in mid flight declaring an emergency, landing at jfk in new york because a row of seats had disengaged from its rails on a nearly full flight. one of the displaced passengers is moved to the flight attendant's jump seat, but fearing turbulence en route, the captain decides to land before the loose row becomes an in-flight missile. >> we don't want that thing flying around and hurting the passengers behind us. the seat is loose and can rotate

pretty quickly. >> reporter: a second american flight, from jfk this time to miami, turned back after takeoff because of loose seats, elevating american's struggles from inconvenience to safety concerns. >> i think it could be sabotage, or it could just be sloppiness, but either way, it's kind of a disaster for the airlines. >> reporter: american is in the middle of a labor dispute with all of its unions including its maintenance workers, but insists despite earlier claims that the 97% increase in maintenance delays in september were deliberate work actions, american claims this is different. and anyone who says the disconnected seats are also a deliberate act are irresponsible and outrageous. the union denies any work actions. the faa says it is investigating. american airlines says it grounded eight of the 757s to inspect them before they fly

again. jim avila, abc news, new york. >> wow. i guess when you look at that story, you hope there's not some kind of connection between that labor dispute and this sudden, you know, uptick of maintenance issues. that's kind of crazy though. and for two, you know, in a short number of days? that's crazy. >> an airline spokesman says there's no correlation, but it's not just those two. they went in and inspected two planes in question, they found other seats were loose as well. according to maintenance reports, preliminary information indicates both aircraft had undergone maintenance during which the seats had been removed and reinstalled, including those two airplanes. >> wow. maybe the only bright side is the folks in the front had more leg room, but that's about it. trying to find a silver lining. that's kinded of scary. >> mm-hmm. moving on this morning, the supreme court has dealt a legal defeat to a florida man trying to challenge the tsa's full-body scanners and enhanced pat-downs. on the first day of the new session, justices said they would not hear an appeal brought

by jonathan corbett who has a blog called "tsa out about pants." he claims that it violates 4th amendment protection against unreasonable searches. also, there's a new warning many americans face one of the steepest tax hikes in history if congress and the white house cannot reach a deal to avoid that so-called fiscal cliff at the end of the year. the tax policy center says taxes for almost 90% of the households will go up an average of 3,500 bucks with increases totaling more than half a million dollars. the fiscal cliff scenario would see automatic tax increases along with very deep cuts to spending. >> yeah. let's hope we don't go over that cliff. it is the final full day of debate prep for the two presidential candidates. the president is behind closed doors at a desert retreat 20 miles from las vegas. earlier mr. obama delivered pizza to a campaign office. we are told the often verbose president is working on making his debate answers shorter and more succinct since they only

have two minutes to react. and mitt romney took a brief break from prep work to rally supporters in denver. he told the crowd of thousands the debate are, quote, about something bigger than who wins. romney and his debate partner, ohio senator rob portman, will spend the day working on last-minute details. former bronco quarterback john elway has announced his support for romney. >> and now a major medical headline this morning. internet addiction is now a step closer to being recognized as a serious illness. the world's top psychologists now recommend further study into internet and technology addiction so it can be formally classified as, get this, a mental illness. researchers say children who are addicted to video games are much more at risk for depression and anxiety. researchers say the problem goes beyond ved video gaming, and formal studies should take place next year. and that brings us to our facebook "question of the day."

how do you know when you have been overdoing it online and what do you do to control yourself? let us know at wnnfans.com. and i can say from personal experience, this one to my left, personal experience, you may want to look into this. you are looking at a total twitterholic here. >> tweeting during the show. i look to keep people engaged. >> we appreciate that. >> call it a mental illness. i am addicted. i think i have major adhd. i just tune everybody out. >> no argument from this corner of the room. >> i will post that photo. well, obviously the calendar has turned to october and that means it is national breast cancer awareness month. that means lots and lots of pink. >> indeed. pink as in pink lights illuminating the white house you can see right there. the pink, of course, is the color of breast cancer awareness and fund-raising movements. cool hue for a good cause over the white house. >> the white house looks good in pink. they also bathed england's most famous home in pink.

buckingham palace in london all lit up as britain's breast cancer campaign got under way. the palace, one in nine famous landmarks lit up in pink. others include the tower of london and trafalgar square. cool to see. everyone on the same page. very cool. >> according to american cancer society estimated 230,000 women were diagnosed with breast cancer just last year alone. >> wow. numbers are pretty staggering. >> thankfully we're getting closer and closer every year. >> keep on pushing. that pink means something, that's for sure. all right. coming up next -- the health hazard kids may face when they goent get enough sleep. later, extreme pickles. forget about ordinary cucumbers. turn anything into a pickle. we're going to turn rob into a pickle. coming up on "world news now." ♪ i like pickles won't you give me a pickle ♪ ♪ sliced ones kosher ones ♪ chopped up red ones

>> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by lifestyle lift. >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by lifestyle lift. ♪ won't you give me a pickle 3q

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♪ sweet dreams are made of this who am i to disagree ♪ i travel the world and the seven seas ♪

>> that's a timeless song. the euro rhythmics. >> does that remind you of your teenage years? how long ago was that for both of us? >> 30 years. well, teenagers, we remember those busy years. teenagers are busy people between school,ive social lives, sports and sometimes part time jobs, many are just not getting enough sleep. >> a new study shows they can pay a big price for that. abc's senior medical contributor dr. tim johnson has more. >> reporter: almost 20% of u.s. adolescents have trouble sleeping or are sleep deprived. a study in the canadian medical association journal looked at more than 4,000 adolescents. those who had trouble sleeping had a higher body mass index, larger waist size, higher cholesterol levels, and higher blood pressure. those who just didn't get enough sleep had higher body mass index and larger waist size. a high sleep disturbance score was also associated with higher

consumption of fried foods, soft drinks, sweets, and snacks. the authors conclude poor sleep hygiene amongst adolescents appears to be associated with increased cardiovascular risk, and they say that improving sleep hygiene early in life may be important for the prevention of cardiovascular disease later in life. i'm dr. timothy johnson. >> wow. >> how do you feel about our jobs right now? >> great. >> scary. >> i feel great about it. >> every story we do about sleep deprivation freaks me out. >> i know. i can survive on five hours a night. >> me too. >> but teens need nine hours. ironically the school day, done a lot of research, a teen's normal biorhythms are late at night and into the early hours of the morning. so the teens should actually be watching our show, but then they want to sleep in, which goes against the natural school day. >> who gets nine hours in this world? i don't think any body gets nine hours.

>> if you do, we are jealous. >> yeah, call us. we are so jealous. the debut of our new series this week, "extreme eats." yes, doing a couple of things we love to do most. eating pickles. i learned how to make a perfect pickle. >> a great tease on many levels, paula. >> oh, yeah. i'm going to eat one too. >> announcer: abc's "world news now" will continue after this from our abc stations.

♪ pickles pickles ♪ pickles pickles i like pickles ♪ ♪ don't you know they make my tummy tickle ♪ >> i've got that on my itune. >> i never heard that song before. good pick, guys. well, who doesn't like a pickle? let's just be honest here. the crispy, tasty treat as paula found out can be made out of just about anything actually. >> and we're talking about pickles. i wanted to bring one in for

you. i know how much you like this. put your mouth around a pickle. we think you're going to love "extreme eats," basic foods taken to a whole other level. hey, insomniacs, paula here with the pickle guy. this is al. >> how are you doing? >> al will show how to make pickles. is there anything we can't pickle? >> you can pickle anything. i will show you how. >> can you pickle me? >> i have a barrel big enough for you. >> he might pickle you. we're going go and figure this all about. what? we have about 30, 40 barrels here? >> we have about 30, 40 different items. the only difference is the amount of time they're aged for. the pickle recipe the same since 1910. when the immigrants came over to this country, they brought their family recipe over here. the same recipe. it has not been changed. customers come in. oh, this guy wants pickles. he wants the ones with the warts, so we give him the ones with the warts. it's kind of cool. >> people actually request pickles with warts? >> some people want one with bumps, large ones, small ones. people want to make sure they're nice and straight.

>> what do you think i am? what type of gal am i? what do i like best. >> you just said you like the clean ones. i'm leaning toward the hot ones. you look a little on the hot side. >> i do like thing as little hot. >> i can tell. >> if you can take a pickle, bend it end to end without it snapping, without it snapping, it's not a good pickle. you want it to snap. >> i don't want you to waste that, so i'm going to try it. >> hear the crunch? >> uh-huh. that was good. >> okay, al. i'm ready to make pickles. show me how this is done. >> this is a good thing. what we have here, a barrel of water. >> just water. >> and what we're going to add is salt. we're going to pour the salt in. >> i found a new calling in life. >> now the type of cucumbers we buy are called kirby cucumbers, and the reason we use kirby cue come ders is because there's very little seeds and a lot of

meat. we will take the cucumbers. got it. >> yeah, pour them all in. are we going to put all of these in there? >> all of these go into the one barrel. ♪ now we put one scoop of garlic. >> okay. >> and now we get to the spices. >> how much? >> one whole scoop of spices. we've got coriander seeds, bay leaf, dried pepper corn, mustard seeds, black pepper corn, juniper berries. >> just sprink it it all in? >> throw it right in. >> this smells amazing. >> beautiful, right? >> beautiful. >> the brine we made, salt water. take that and pour it in there. >> just pour it in. >> oh, i just splashed. casualty oom ooh, that's salty.

>> pour it in. see how they're floating? >> yep. they're floating. it floats. >> and now you have just made a barrel of pickles. >> you don't have to mix it up at all? >> no. just leave it like that. take the inner. place that in there. keeps the cucumbers submerged underneath the brine. put the cover on. just like that. put that in the refrigerator, and tomorrow it will be ready for sale. >> okay. i'm no longer in a pickle. thanks for showing me how to do that. >> you looked right at home, paul will, with all the pickles. >> you know me. i love a good pickle. splashed all over me, juice. >> got some in your eye. awful. >> and they're low calorie, only 7 calories. [ laughter ] the pickle guys, by the way, they ship nationally. if any of you want some -- >> they actually look good. i was wondering how -- >> i didn't know that. the crunchier, the less they've been soaking in that. >> very cool.

tomorrow the series continues. i'll have a look at meatballs. had a complete set. 3q

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♪ cross my heart and i hope to die ♪ ♪ cross my heart and i hope to die ♪ ♪ that i only stay with you one more night ♪ ♪ and i know i have said it a million times ♪ ♪ but i only stay with you one more night ♪ try to tell you no ♪ welcome back, everybody. a northern michigan high school student, the victim of a cruel joke, had the last laugh over the weekend. this one is our "favorite story of the day." >> you are about to see why. whitney was tricked into thinking she had been nominated for home coming queen, but rather than hang her head, whitney set app example on how to put bullies in their place. abc's linsey davis has the story. >> reporter: for whitney kropp this moment was bigger than

homecoming. it was about overcoming. the 16-year-old says she almost didn't join the homecoming court friday night at her high school in northern michigan. >> you want it up? >> i like it up too. >> reporter: when kropp heard over the loudspeaker at school she had been nominated, she was thrilled. even posting on facebook "in the home coming court. a little nervous, but this is going to be fun." then kropp learned it was all a cruel joke, that the so-called popular kids at ogemaw heights high school thought it would be funny to choose her. kropp said she was beyond humiliated, telling a local station in saginaw, the subsequent bullying intensified. >> i had actually thought about suicide. >> but when people found out about it, they rallied around her. local business owners encouraged her to embrace her title, providing her with a dress, hairstyling, makeup, shoes, dinner for the big night.

there are now more than 120,000 likes on a support whitney facebook page. in an interview airing tuesday on "katie," kropp and her mother say they hope this story inspires students to stick up for one another. >> normally kids follow their gut and their mind. to me i follow my heart and my gut. do this and show them what you are worth. >> there may be kids out there who have liked at her, seen her story, said i can do that too. >> reporter: as for friday night, kropp walked out onto the field with more than 1,000 cheering supporters, including some from the opposing team. >> i have no words for this right now. >> reporter: though kropp wasn't crowned homecoming queen, she turned what was a prank into a moment to shine. lindsay davis, abc news, new york. >> that upsets you that kids can be so cruel. we've seen that so many times, but how cool that she rose above all that stuff. awesome. >> rose above it and turned it back on them. i hope the kids feel terrible. >> a t-shirt, not cool to be cruel.

this morning on "world news now" -- this morning on "world news now" -- it's down to the wire in denver. preparing for their first debate. >> president obama and mitt romney are off the campaign trail today as they get ready to face off tomorrow night. it's tuesday, october 2nd. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." good tuesday morning, everyone. i'm paula faris. good to see you back. >> good to be back. >> uh-huh. >> you had fun in baltimore. back together. you had a good time in baltimore. i had a good time in new orleans. >> yes. >> now we're back at the desk. >> i was feeling it yesterday. now you're feeling it today. >> running on fumes. that is for sure. i like the glasses -- something different. >> took him about 20 minutes. and then he was like something is different. >> i'm tired. >> glasses. my eyes are -- just -- significantly regressing. >> it happens in your 60s.

good morning, everybody, i'm rob nelson. in a moment we'll have a look at how each candidate will try to score points at the big debate tomorrow night. also this half hour, an amtrak train with 169 passengers collides with a big rig and then derails and passengers and eyewitnesses are describing the chaos that followed. and then a peanut butter recall spreads, even more so. more than a hundred items, some that might be in your home right now are being linked to a salmonella outbreak. >> products that use the peanut butter. bigger than you think. stay tuned for that. and then later in the half hour, a scientologist bending the rules for tom characterize. the insider who says cruise is getting special treatment when it comes to seeing suri. that's coming up in "the skinny." the drama continues for tom. but first, five weeks until the election and one day before the crucial presidential debate. >> both candidates are working on their last-minute preparations for their first face-off tomorrow night. abc's karen travers is joining

us this morning with a preview of the debate. good morning, karen. >> good morning, rob. good morning, paula. it's been very quiet on the campaign trail as president obama and mitt romney hunker down and prepare for wed's debate. a new abc news/"washington post" poll shows a very tight race. so both campaigns see tomorrow night as a big opportunity. this presidential campaign has been going on for nearly two years, and finally it's debate season for the nominees. the time when americans seem to really start paying attention. president obama's rehearsing with senator john kerry while mitt romney is squaring off against senator rob portman. both candidates have challenges and checklists. president obama's working on shorter answers, trying to avoid sounding like the professor he was before the white house. democrats say he needs to look strong and forceful and not appear irritated or impatient. >> they're trying to get him into the mode of being able to answer questions, short, concisely, and to the point, and so it's much more like his

mannerisms and his style and the way he comes across as opposed to information in this. >> reporter: and mitt romney? he has to seem relatable, especially after his 47% comment. how can he do that? show compassion? show he's competent and connect with voters? >> so on those three cs, that's where he's really got to do well. >> reporter: romney arrived in colorado to continue his debate prep, but took a brief break to rally supporters. >> what an honor. what a welcome. what a colorado welcome. thank you so much. >> the president also took a break with a visit to the nevada campaign office. >> hi, this is barack obama. how are you? [ laughter ] >> a new abc news, "washington post" poll found that 56% expect the president to win the debates. lowered expectations could be good for romney. if he turns in a strong debate performance, his campaign can boast of a big win and leave denver with some momentum. rob and paula, back to you. >> all right. thanks, karen. >> 90 minutes, and just to give you a little bit of background

on this particular debate, it's the first one. it will be moderated by jim lehrer, who's the host of pbs's "newshour." they'll have 15 minutes. ask a question, two minutes to respond. jake tapper pointed out on "world news." the president a little loquacious. i think one of his responses to jake was five minutes long. got to cut that down a little bit. >> the media, we are guilty of this. we cover the horse race. we cover -- the one-liners or awkward moments. >> zingers. >> people watch -- i hope millions tune in to watch, they pay attention to the substance, how the two men differ in policies as opposed to who looked nervous, who had a little bit of sweat, who gave the quirky one-liner. >> check on the watch. >> yeah, hopefully people focus on the stuff that matters. we'll see. we'll see. also in pennsylvania, a big day today. there will be a vote today on the voter i.d. law. it could still be appeared to the state supreme court here. we have seen that play out in different states around the country. virginia, ohio.

so just a few weeks out now, we're starting to see some of the judges take action one way or the other. how it is going to turn out. pennsylvania pay attention to that today. >> early voting begins in ohio today as well. >> indeed. getting closer and closer. tomorrow night's live debate coverage starts at 9:00 eastern here on abc news. later this half hour, a cool story, hear how candidates learn from past debate mistakes in order to win. well, investigators will be on the scene of an amtrak train derailment in california's central valley today. that's where the train's locomotive and two passenger cars came off the rails yesterday after colliding with a big rig truck. now officials want to know how fast the train and truck were traveling at the time of that collision. at least 20 people were injured. >> it started fishtailing and then ground to a real fast halt. people were screaming. >> i've seen a lady over there with a broken arm. there is about, a 3-month, 4-month-old baby, covered in whatever was in the back of the diesel truck. >> and they don't have seat

belts in the amtrak trains either. after the amtrak derailment, a second accident took place nearby. that one involved a freight train and a tractor-trailer. police said the truck driver suffered major injuries. american airlines is back under the microscope this morning with federal investigators looking into why passengers' seats came loose. a third incident was just reported by today's "new york post." all the planes were grounded. both planes were boeing 757s. the faa says they recently had maintenance work with the seats taken out and then reinstalled. american, which is in bankruptcy, is locked in a dispute with its pilots and mechanics. honda is recalling one of the best-selling cars because of a fire hazard. 600,000 accords sold in the u.s. and canada may have defective power steering hoses. fluid could leak and then cause fires. now, the recall is for accords with v-6 engines from the 2003 to '07 model years. repairs will be made free of charge, but dealers may not have all the parts needed until next year.

savvy car thieves are no longer relying on breaking windows or jimmying locks. they've gone high tech. they have found a way to gain access to a car by cracking the code to the security system. a surveillance camera in chicago captures this thief in action. he simply walks by the car, unlocks it wirelessly, allowing him to rummage for valuables. >> we believe that this code-grabbing technology was yut utilized, and we're looking into it and investigating it. kind of an elusive crime to report. for us to even take note of in the first place. >> older cars are especially vulnerable to this crime. the new ones are equipped with technology that constantly changes the key code, making signals that are harder to copy. but wireless signal experts think that they have cracked those security codes, so they're able to send the same unlock signal that an owner's key transmitter uses, but frightening. >> some detectives think there could be an app out there that these thieves are using to unlock the car. so it's scary.

there's always a good and downside to technology. this could be another case. at first people just thought, oh, i must not have locked the car. i must have left it open. and then when they saw more and more cases crop up, they said, wait a minute, something's going on here. be careful. >> yeah. that's got to be disconcerting. you get in your car, no visible signs. >> no smashed window. >> get in my car, an old stroller, maybe a couple bags, old clothes. take the french fries that have been in between the seats for the last three months. >> you know you still eat those. >> i do every now and then. my son does. whatever. just eat it. >> here's your tuesday forecast, everybody. we have severe storms with gusty winds and hail from cincinnati to pittsburgh and lexington. showers with peeks of sunshine from new york to d.c. thunderstorms in the carolinas, georgia, and florida. and more record heat in the southwest. 102 in phoenix. 94 in sacramento. mostly 80s in the rockies. upper 60s and 70s from midwest into the east coast.

and on monday night football, it was the bears visiting the cowboys. dallas qb tony romo only failed to complete seven passes. unfortunately, though, five of his completions were made by chicago defenders. >> bad, mm-hmm. >> yeah. we call those interception. there were a-plenty. >> two return ed touchdowns. the bears' offense, not bad. jay cutler connected on 11 of 12 -- some are calling this the best game he had in a really long time. 11 of 12. second half passes including two touchdowns. the bears win. and a stroll in dallas, 34-18. the bears -- the bears are 3-1. who would have thought the bears would be 3-1 and the packers 2-2? a little bit of division rivalry right there. the saints are one of two 0-4 teams this year. >> it's painful. i was in the city to watch the game. could have won. looked better. an ugly game. >> missed a field goal. >> i know. i know. i was there. watching it it was painful. some of the viewers wrote on

facebook, they see your chicago jersey, but you're a native of michigan. where is your love for the tigers? >> you mean the lions? >> the lions. i mean -- i am fresh back. >> here's the quick -- the quick story on that. >> quick, yeah. >> i was a lions' fan, and then wayne fontes, one of the head coaches for the lions when he ran barry sanders into the ground, barry sanders was like no more of this. i was like -- no more. >> there is a history there. i didn't know myself. i was curious. >> i lived, worked in ohio for 12 years. lived and worked in chicago for six years. covered the bears and bengals. >> there we go. i was just curious. you fully answered. >> curious? >> curious. coming up -- what steven colbert revealed about himself to oprah winfrey. the widespread peanut butter recall, what you need to know about it before you harm yourself or your family. you're watching ""world news now."" >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by united health care. but it doesn't cover everything.

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well, more than a hundred brands of peanut butter and other nut products are being recalled this morning in a salmonella scare. >> at least 30 people, many of them kids, have gotten sick. abc's steve osunsami has more. >> reporter: what's especially frightening is that most of the people who have gotten sick from the so-called recalled peanut butter are children under the age of 10. >> i am concerned. i love peanut butter. >> you don't know what you are getting. it is very scary. >> reporter: this began with one brand of sea salt peanut butter at trader joe's, but the recall has now cleared out peanut butter aisles at kroger, whole

foods, and target. investigators have traced the trouble to sunland incorporated, a peanut butter manufacturer in new mexico that sells products in grocery stores across the country. the list of recalled peanut butter products is 101 items long and includes nut butters made with almonds, cashews, and sesame seeds. and it gets worse. companies like the oregon ice cream company and fairytale brownies, which used the recalled nut better to make cookies and baked goods, they're now recalls their products too. >> people have been getting sick over the last month. and because there's often a two-week delay or so in the reporting time, we expect to hear about case for the next week or two. >> reporter: we should make clear none of this affects moms who choose jiff, skippy, or other main brands. we talked with the managers at the peanut butter company in new mexico. they told us they test their product every half hour, their peanut butter is safe and that the illnesses are a mystery.

steve osunsami, abc news, atlanta. >> affects so many people. we have a closet full of peanut butter that we had to get rid of. >> all right, scary. and you're wondering -- diarrhea, fever, cramping, some of the signs out there. definitely go to our website. check out abcnews.com. >> you can find a full list of all the items being recalled. it affects more than just traditional peanut butter. >> it might not affect you until two weeks from now. as well, those side effects manifest themselves slowly. >> slowly. all right. coming up next, let's lighten the mood a little bit. we do have some serious news. stephen colbert in "the skinny" talks about his personal life, details folks may not know about he opened up to oprah a little bit. not all laughing matters, to say the least. and tom cruise, parenting issues and what scientologists are doing about it. it's all next in "the skinny". >> announcer: abc's "world n

♪ skinny ♪ so skinny >> welcome back, everybody. well, the church of scientology, some scientologists are a little upset with tom cruise saying he's getting preferential treatment within the church. according to the church, once a family member or spouse has left the church of scientology, katie holmes and her daughter have returned to the catholic church, they're supposed to shun them instantly. >> ew. >> yes, which i find a little

bizarre. so he wouldn't have be allowed to see or maintain communication with katie or surri because they're no longer in the church of scientology. a former scientologist and ex-president of the celebrity center says that they've already bent the rules for tom. he hasn't actually been seen in public with his daughter in over seven weeks, and so some people are starting to speculate is he adhering to the new rules or not? but people in his camp are saying, no, he's just off chuting movies. this is something that was normnor normal for him to do. before the split even happened. >> i would hate to think he would pick the religion over his daughter. that would seem kind of crazy. also stephen colbert sat down with oprah winfrey, "oprah's next chapter." kind of gave a somber interview. i love his show. i didn't know the personal details about his upbringing here. he at the age of 10 years old lost his father and two older brothers when they all died in a plane crash in north carolina in 1974. he goes on to tell oprah he didn't even grieve until he got to college. he was a college freshman who

lost 50 pounds that year because he just couldn't deal with it at the time. he was just 10 years old. when this happened. didn't deal with it until years later. and went through, i didn't know how to grieve. finally, it did hit him. he was able to deal with it. he has a book coming out the reason he gave the interview. very different side of colbert than the guy right there that we are used to seeing every night. a very fascinating interview with him, so check that out, and the book. >> a serious side to him. >> yeah. >> i'm a big fan of his, even though he's made fun of me several times. >> oh. >> yeah which stories i did. yeah. >> really? >> anyway, "dancing with the stars," a little recap, if you didn't get a chance to watch it last night. here's basically what happened. right there, earning some of the higher scores of the evening. as well as sabrina brian and louis. and kirstie alley and max not so good. and bristol palin danced to "red neck woman" along with mark ballas. the dancers with the lowest

scores, and judge's scores combined, they will be voted off tonight. shawn johnson and derek hough doing well. >> are you following the season or follow along very closely? >> no, not really. i watched a little bit of that before we watched "dexter." >> "dexter"'s great. paris jackson, michael jackson's beaut daughter, tweeted an interesting picture. try to figure what it means. she apparently got a very drastic hair cut. >> is that her? >> that is her with very heavy eye make upand shorter hair. based upon tweets, people are debating whether she donated her hair to cancer charity or something like that or whether it was a wig and kind of, just her way of trying to make headlines. of course, it looks a lot like miley cyrus who chopped off a lot of her hair you, see there. people trying to figure out what is going on with paris these days? was it a publicity thing? did she donate it? what's going on? it's a little hard to tell. i don't get that one.

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you're watching "world news now." >> sleep is overrated. ♪ welcome back, everybody. with the first presidential debate tomorrow night in denver, it's a good time to look back at previous debates and how past candidates performed. >> indeed. and what we find is that the art of debate often comes down to more than just getting the facts right. abc's john donvan breaks down the ways to win. >> reporter: 28 times since 1960, plus vice presidentials and primaries without a single moment of rhetorical greatness but plenty of lessons on how to survive one of these things. lesson one, prescript your zingers carefully. you think this was spontaneous? reagan to carter. >> there you go again. >> reporter: scripted.

so was this. benson to quayle. >> i served with jack kennedy. i knew jack kennedy. kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> reporter: lesson two, think spelling bee. memorize every possible answer. mistakes will define you forever. don't get the obvious stuff wrong. >> there is no soviet domination of eastern europe. >> reporter: and have a plan to handle bizarro curveball questions. >> if kitty dukakis were raped and murdered -- >> reporter: mr. dukakis, governor, answered the death penalty question with policy talk. >> i think there are better and more effective ways to deal with violent crime. >> reporter: which did not go well for him. which lead to lesson three. appearances count above all. jfk, tan. nixon, just out of the hospital, pail, and refusing professional makeup. lighting counts too. in 1984, reagan's people fussed more over his than mondale's did over his. reagan always had a glass of wine just before going on to get

those rosy cheeks. lesson four, real debating? so far, after 52 years, not actually required here. so relax. learn your lines. and don't sneak in a look at your wristwatch because that will definitely hurt you. beside, 90 minutes and you are done. possibly for good. john donvan, abc news, washington. >> possibly for good. nice line there. >> that's how rob gets his cheeks nice and rosie. he days a cue from the old gipper. >> that's great detail. nice. glass of wine, relaxes you, gives you the blush. it works. i think there's so much choreography that goes behind the debates. it really is fascinating what a made-for-tv event they have become since 1960 when they first started with nixon and kennedy. >> i imagine you would be a great debater. >> go ahead and say it. >> no. >> there's a joke. you know you want to say it. >> no, i'm not going to go there. >> yeah. more from abc coming up next. >> announcer: this is abc' i'm only in my 60's... i've got a nice long life ahead.

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